1-samuel 22 :2

Became - Was exactly suited for; was fitting.

And every one that was in distress - debt - discontented - It is very possible that these several disaffected and exceptionable characters might at first have supposed that David, unjustly persecuted, would be glad to avail himself of their assistance that he might revenge himself upon Saul, and so they in the mean time might profit by plunder, etc. But if this were their design they were greatly disappointed, for David never made any improper use of them. They are never found plundering or murdering; on the contrary, they always appear under good discipline, and are only employed in services of a beneficent nature, and in defense of their country. Whatever they were before they came to David, we find that he succeeded in civilizing them, and making profitable to the state those who were before unprofitable. It is not necessary to strain the words of the original in order to prove that these were oppressed people, and not exceptionable characters, as some have done.

Discontented - See the margin. (Compare 1 Samuel 30:6; 2 Samuel 17:8.) The phrase here denotes those who were exasperated by Saul's tyranny.

22:2 Debt - Probably poor debtors, whom the creditors were obliged to spare, Exod 22:25. And though their persons were with David, yet their lands and goods were liable to their creditors. Captain over them - He did not maintain any injustice or wickedness, which some of them possibly might be guilty of; but on the contrary, he instructed and obliged them to the practice of all justice and honesty.